Apple's Greg Joswiak Talks iPhone X Face ID, Display and A11 Chip

Tom's Guide today shared its list of "2017 Innovation Award Winners," which of course includes the iPhone X, among other products like the Nintendo Switch, the DJI Spark, and the Amazon Echo.

Apple's iPhone X took the Tom's Guide "Best Overall" award for its Super Retina Display, Face ID, and A11 Bionic chip, and the site's iPhone X writeup includes some interesting commentary from Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of product marketing.

For the iPhone X's Super Retina Display, which incorporates the first-ever OLED panel in an iOS device, Joswiak says Apple had to "do a lot of engineering" to come up with "panels that were better" to address traditional OLED issues like oversaturated colors.

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The iPhone X is using its own color management system, a folding panel design that stacks circuits for minimal bezel, and other technology improvements to outshine competing smartphone displays.

Reiterating previous comments from Apple executives on Face ID, Joswiak says Touch ID was never planned for the iPhone X. Prior to the launch of the device, there were rumors suggesting Apple had tried and failed to embed Touch ID both under the display. Apple execs say Face ID was planned for the iPhone X from the beginning. "We had a line of sight on how to do real facial recognition, in a way never done before," said Joswiak.

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The "notch" on the iPhone X, which some believe is a questionable design decision, houses what Joswiak says is "one of the most densely packed technology areas" Apple has done. The notch includes a 7-megapixel camera, an infrared camera, a flood illuminator, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, a speaker, a microphone, and a dot projector, all of which powers the TrueDepth system that enables Face ID and other features like Animoji.

At the heart of the iPhone X, there's an A11 Bionic chip with two performance cores and four high-efficiency cores that work together to make the iPhone X incredibly fast. An included neural engine powers Face ID and other machine learning tasks, while an embedded M11 Motion coprocessor captures motion-based data.

Apple's chip team "worked hand in glove" with the rest of Apple's hardware and software teams to design chips that are "perfectly suited" for the iPhone X's feature set. "That's huge," said Joswiak. "No one else can match that," he added.

Josiwak's full commentary on the iPhone X, which includes additional details about each feature, can be read over at Tom's Guide. The Innovation Award list also highlights multiple other products across categories like Augmented Reality, TV, Graphics, Design, Game, Entertainment, CPU, Tablet, Peripheral, and more.

So far very pleased with my iPhone X. Face ID is great and does what it is supposed to do. Is it the most secure way to unlock a phone, No but I dont need that much security. As for the notch, its not a big deal.

I think I need to redo face ID and do it while lying down with my double chins. It fails probably at least 50% the time for me and pretty much always when I'm lying down. Miss touch ID and my headphone jack.

I think I need to redo face ID and do it while lying down with my double chins. It fails probably at least 50% the time for me and pretty much always when I'm lying down. Miss touch ID and my headphone jack.

I think Joswiak makes a good point about the notch. As he mentioned, others have questioned the notch, but with all the embedded technology behind it, it serves it's purpose contrary to what others think behind the design aspect. I don't even notice the Notch and it's non issue for me. It Makes you appreciate its core purpose and how it's a part of the iPhone X, and will be for future iPhone models. It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing with the Notch, but it is Apples trademark for this iPhone.

I think there is far too much overlap at Apple Executive staff. An executive, other than the CEO, not in charge or leading the actual inner workings of a technology, shouldn't be the one to comment on that technology. Imagine if Greg was asked just how Siri keeps track of our personal information upon a query, how the search is executed and how are sites that report back a result respond? How is a site that requires membership will respond to our Siri made inquiry? Say SportsNet enabled a requirement for a logon (ID/PW) before reporting any sports information, how that would effect our Siri results? Hey Greg why is Siri so lagging against the competition if security and advancement can co-exist?!!

I think I need to redo face ID and do it while lying down with my double chins. It fails probably at least 50% the time for me and pretty much always when I'm lying down. Miss touch ID and my headphone jack.

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...theeeeeen if you really wanted an iPhone, why not go for the much cheaper but still as capable (or even more capable) 6s(+)? You get your touchID AND the headphone jack.

Loving the X, the jump from 6 was incredible. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase!

However, is anyone having trouble with front speaker crackle when ringtones/music is anywhere near high? I had to set it down 3-4 bars to ensure morning alarm doesn't blow the speaker. Just the front, bottom speaker is perfectly fine! (Or is this defective and I should get it replaced?)

At the heart of the iPhone X, there's an A11 Bionic chip with two performance cores and four high-efficiency cores that work together to make the iPhone X incredibly fast. An included neural engine powers Face ID and other machine learning tasks, while an embedded M11 Motion coprocessor captures motion-based data.

The "notch" on the iPhone X, which some believe is a questionable design decision, houses what Joswiak says is "one of the most densely packed technology areas" Apple has done. The notch includes a 7-megapixel camera, an infrared camera, a flood illuminator, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, a speaker, a microphone, and a dot projector, all of which powers the TrueDepth system that enables Face ID and other features like Animoji.

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lol ... FaceID, Animoji and potentially camera lighting themes is ALL that the TrueDepth system enables thus far. We'll have to wait for more third party access beyond a facial overlay into the virtual world that Instagram does. To me that's the same as Animoji.

Will I upgrade to the iPhone X ... hell yes because of the resolution, faster cpu/gpu and camera features!

For the iPhone X's Super Retina Display, which incorporates the first-ever OLED panel in an iOS device, Joswiak says Apple had to "do a lot of engineering" to come up with "panels that were better" to address traditional OLED issues like oversaturated colors.

Honestly I think people complaining about the notch never actually used the phone. I used to think it would be a big deal because it looks far more noticeable in pictures, then I used the phone and quickly realized I didn't even notice the notch unless I consciously thought about it.

Loving the X, the jump from 6 was incredible. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase!

However, is anyone having trouble with front speaker crackle when ringtones/music is anywhere near high? I had to set it down 3-4 bars to ensure morning alarm doesn't blow the speaker. Just the front, bottom speaker is perfectly fine! (Or is this defective and I should get it replaced?)

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I've read a few on these boards experienced this. Not sure what is up.

Jumped from 6 to the X. I think the phone overall is great. The notch is bothersome when watching videos.. i feel they could just have averted that by not extending the video to the sides of the notch when viewed in fullscreen. There are still few complaints.. guess have to work around it. Nothing that is a deal breaker though.

I've read a few on these boards experienced this. Not sure what is up.

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Yeah, just checked a whole lot of folks have the same issue irrespective of the model.
My guess would be that it just needs a software tweak, as at or below 80% vol, it's not noticeable at all.
They can set it as the new 100% for the front speaker, while the bottom speaker can enjoy the extra 20% volume boost.

However, is anyone having trouble with front speaker crackle when ringtones/music is anywhere near high? I had to set it down 3-4 bars to ensure morning alarm doesn't blow the speaker. Just the front, bottom speaker is perfectly fine! (Or is this defective and I should get it replaced?)

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I would not accept crackling manufacturer ringtones after paying $1000.

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